Retroarch does not scan MAME roms on Shield TV

RetroArch Android devices
#1

Hi everybody.

After some more using of Retroarch I can maybe open a more precise post regarding a problem I have with Retrarch (1.7.1, got right from the Play Store) and the Shield TV. The Shield TV is the 16GB model but has a has a 128GB flash drive attached as additional storage, and most of it it’s empty.

I only have a full romset for MAME 0.174, which from what I understand should be perfect for the MAME (2016) core. All roms are in the so called non-merged state (all necessary roms in every zip file).

The romsets are kept in a NAS which is attached to the Shield TV via wired connection. The NAS holds also all my multimedia libraries. No problem whatsoever reading files with Kodi or whatever.

All romsets I tried so far run perfectly if manually selected from the GUI. I tried updating the database but to no avail.

Every time I try scanning the rom folder or even just one rom file simply nothing happens.

I also have to say that I tried multiple times to download the thumbnail for the MAME core, but every time it did not get past 2% and kept resetting to 0%.

Could it be that there’s something not working on the networking side? Is there a way I can download the database files and thumbnails and copy them to the Shield TV (or on the NAS and point Retroarch to get them from there, for that matter)?

Thankk.

#2

mame roms are trrntzipped after verifying them with clrmame with the correct dat file version

#3

I’m not sure I understand.

Are you saying that it’s the process of running the roms through clrmame that causes the issue?

The roms are loaded and executed correctly by the core emulator though.

#4

Hi.

Any help on this topic?

Should I try a nightly build? If so, how can I load it on the NVidia Shield TV?

Thx.

#5

You could try a nightly, sure. Just download the appropriate one from buildbot.libretro.com and then sideload it just like you would any other apk file. That is, either through a file manager like ES File Explorer or via adb from a PC using adb install -r [filename].apk

#6

Thanks for answering.

I’m a bit a newbie on the Android side.

With sideloading you mean just copying the package to the Shield TV and installing it (IIRC you can do it just by “double clicking” with ES File Explorer), right? No need to root the device or anything?

And with this will I keep the regular Retroarch installed from the play store or will the nightly replace it?

Thank you very much.

#7

@Tarrasque

You don’t need to use ES File Explorer to download the buildbot versions of RetroArch if you push install a web browser like Chrome. I use Chrome to navigate to the buildbot of a few emulators and can install them that way.

5

#8

I have personally worked on the databases for MAME 2000 - 2014 but I can’t speak for MAME 2016 so forgive me if this doesn’t apply for some reason.

As wertz mentioned, once you have rebuilt or scanned your MAME collection in ClrMamePro, the next step is to process it through torrentzip. It’s a drag and drop operation for your MAME ROM folder but will take a while.

If MAME 2016’s database is like the older MAMEs, then the playlist scanner will work.

On the other hand, this scenario is why there are some third-party arcade playlist generators in circulation. The one I wrote is called Playlist Buddy and you can find it in the Tools and Scripts: https://forums.libretro.com/c/retroarch-additions/tools-scripts

#9

I thought sets rebuilt with clrmamepro were already torrentzipped or ready for Retroarch anyway.

What tool should I use exactly to “torrentzip” my romsets?

The playlist generarors you talk of, on the other hand, seem a great idea and I’ll try them as soon as I can anyway!!

Thanks for answering!

#10

I apologize for being very slow to respond but on the other hand http://lmgtfy.com/?q=torrentzip